Here For You
by burnyoutotheground
Summary: Carlos gets stage fright and James comforts him. NO SLASH. My first one-shot!


**A/N: So I'm taking a break from my other story, Can't Remember What I Forgot. I got real bad writer's block and this idea came to me when I woke up this morning. To all the readers of CRWIF, I'm sorry for the lack of updates.**

**This one-shot is dedicated to Jamie-Loves-BTR for spamming my twitter and phone with texts while I was working on this. Love ya, sis!**

**Anyways,** for all you Penators, PenaSoldiers or Carlos-Lovers, ENJOY!****

**Disclaimer: I don't own Big Time Rush or anything in his story, besides the plot.**

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><p>"Alright, you guys ready? It's now or never," Kendall checked on his bandmates, James, Carlos and Logan.<p>

"Ready," came James' response.

"Yep," Logan replied.

"I'm good," Carlos' response came last.

"Let's do this!" Kendall voiced out in a determined voice to encourage his best friends.

Big Time Rush was announced followed by cheers that were muffled because the boys were under the stage. Just then, Superstar began playing and the four boys rose dramatically from under the stage as smoke started to come out of the smoke machines, blocking the mechanism that was that bringing them onto the stage. Carlos wouldn't admit it, but he was actually nervousabout today's performance. Seeing that this was their first _major_ performance in front of over 55, 000 people, it was no wonder how Carlos got had this funny feeling in the pit of his stomach. Somewhere deep down, he could _feel_ that something would go wrong. Calming himself down, he brushed it off as nothing.

The crowd broke out into louder cheers as soon as they saw the four boys they loved. Hearing how loud the crowd was made Carlos even more nervous. Just hearing the volume of the crowd made him dizzy as it reminded him of how many people were watching his every move. The smoke on the stage only made it harder for him to concentrate on his dance moves as it made him even dizzier. Realizing he was offbeat, he struggled to catch up in his dancing. Lucky for him, a bit of smoke was still on the stage, enough to camouflage his feet a little while more. As the smoke got thinner, he could see the colourful and cheering crowd. When no smoke was left, he was able to get a full view of the audience. In an instant, his mind went blank.

He couldn't think. He couldn't move. He was paralyzed to the ground and his stage fright was eating away at every bit of confidence left in him. He just stood there, mouth agape, microphone gripped tight and palms clammy and sweaty. He hadn't realized how his actions had caught a lot of attention. The realization hit him when the background music stopped playing and all he heard were buzzing noises coming from the crowd.

Instantly, he lost his grip on the microphone and it hit the stage floor with an ear-piercing screech. He didn't know how, he didn't know why, but it was only at that moment his body finally managed to move. He glanced over at his bestfriends. They were staring at him with looks of pure concern. Suddenly, James approaches him.

"You okay, buddy?" He asked gently. "What happened?"

Carlos quickly looked away, fighting back tears that were threatening to fall. Then, the buzzing got louder and louder. It got so loud to the point where it was _deafening._ He couldn't hold his tears in any longer and they just flowed down his tan cheeks. He couldn't take it anymore.

Rivulets of tears staining his cheeks, he brought up his hands to cover his ears in an attempt to stop the buzzing. "Make it stop! Please make it stop! Just please... make it stop!"

With that, he ran off backstage.

Everyone stared in silence and in shock, trying to digest what just happened to the joyful Latino they knew and loved. Everyone except for James, that is. A second after Carlos took off, he followed closely in tow, calling out to his young friend to get him to stop. His efforts were futile, though, as Carlos showed no signs of slowing down.

Carlos wanted to just run. Away from the deathly stares. Away from the buzzing that were hurting his ears. Away from the humiliation. Away from everything. He just ran and ran and ran. He didn't care where he was going. The wind blowing on his face seemed to ease all the pain and the humiliation. Therefore, he never stopped running. He just kept running until he felt something or _someone_ grabbing his waist from behind, sending him flying to the ground and landing on top of what felt like another person. Judging from the muscular arms around his waist, the strength used to pull him and the beefy chest he landed on, Carlos knew it was none other than James.

Carlos struggled to get up but after moments of wrestling, James managed to pin him down by sitting on his waist while holding down both his hands on either side of his head.

"Dude, you wanna tell me what's wrong?" James asked, breathing heavily

Carlos struggled for a while more before sighing in defeat. James let go of him and helped him up. He then led Carlos to the curb of the pavement and sat him down.

Carlos took in a breath.

"I panicked, okay? It's our first major performance and I was nervous!" Carlos let out in one breath. When he got no response from James, he took it as a sign to continue.

"when I heard how loud the audience was, it just... It just reminded me of how many people were watching my every move. When the smoke came out, everything was just a blur to me. I-I tried to catch up with the d-dancing b-but... b-but..." Carlos began sobbing hysterically as he came to the last part.

"Shh... Shh... It's okay, buddy. You don't have to continue if you don't want to. It's okay..." James cooed, his voice as gentle as ever while he draped an arm around his younger friend.

When Carlos began to cry even more, James engulfed him in a tight brotherly embrace. This in turn made Carlos sob even harder, if it was possible. Carlos had his head in the crook of James' neck, where he sobbed to the point of hiccuping while grabbing a fistful of the back of James' shirt. Pretty soon, the collar of James' shirt was drenched with Carlos' tears but he didn't care. He continued rubbing Carlos' back and whispering comforting words into his ear, his voice still calm and gentle. Eventually, Carlos' tearfest reduced to mere tiny hiccups and occasional sobs.

"You okay now, Los?" James asked, using Carlos' favourite nickname since they were in middle-school.

Carlos looked up, his innocent chocolate orbs meeting James' care-filled hazel ones. James' heart broke when he saw Carlos' pained expression. His mocha irises, which used to contain endless joy, looked lost and confused. His eyes were red and puffy as a result of crying for the past 15 minutes or so. His cheeks were tear-stained and overall, he looked so... _fragile._ James brought his hands up to cover the lower half of his friend's face as he stared intently into those eyes.

"Hey, don't worry about that, m'kay? _Everybody_ gets nervous every now and then... Even me." James assured as his thumbs wiped away the tears on the young Latino's cheeks.

At that comment, Carlos seemed a little relaxed.

"Really? YOU get nervous?" He chuckled slightly. "Aren't you supposed to... you know...I mean, as The Face, shouldn't you be the confident one?"

James giggled, relief to see Carlos happy again. "Like I said, it happens to everybody. It's not what others think about you that matters. it's what you think of yourself. If you tell yourself you'll be fine, then trust me, you will."

The corners of Carlos' lips upturned as a small smile took its place.

"Hey, when it gets too hard, just think of nice happy thoughts about kittens," James joked.

Carlos' smile stretched. He was _beaming_. James just always knows what to say.

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><p><strong>Congrats, you managed to read the entire story. Bravo!<strong>

**So how was that? I personally loved it! Anyways, review?**

**xoxo, Sasha**


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